JOHANNESBURG – There will perhaps be a piddling amount of relief amongst the Lions that their Currie Cup season has finally come to an end, such has been their dispirited performances in the tournament this year and especially after this embarrassing defeat.
Make no mistake, the Sharks were simply brilliant and full value for their crushing victory, playing beautiful attacking rugby, and grinding it out when necessary.
It was, nevertheless, a final insult after a long season on Saturday at Emirates Airline Park as the Sharks consigned the home team to their seventh loss of the season, handsomely beating the Lions 56-14. The victory boosted the Sharks’ chance of securing a home semi-final, placing them comfortably in second spot in the standings; their last game against immediate opponents for that honour, the Western Province, in Durban next week.
Full Time: Sigma Lions 14 – 56 Cell C Sharks
— The Sharks (@TheSharksZA) August 21, 2021
VICTORY!!! 🔥 The 8 tries that the Cell C Sharks scored ensured a bonus point win at Emirates Airline Park beating the Sigma Lions by 42 points!#LIOvSHA #CarlingCurrieCup #OurSharksForever pic.twitter.com/QPECxzUywh
Watching Carlu Sadie and Sti Sithole in action at scrumtime, one must continue to wonder how it is that the Lions find themselves so deep in the doldrums. With near complete dominance at the set-piece, it is not outside of the realm of possibility that the Joburg-based side should have controlled both territory and scoreboard pressure during this encounter.
It is their inability, however, to build on that pressure and convert it to anything meaningful, and on Saturday it was their line-out work and maul work that failed to get the business done, especially in the first 20 minutes where they enjoyed the rub of the green. It will pain their supporters even more, that it was through that one-two punch - winning a penalty and maul - that opened up their defence that the Sharks dotted down the first try through Marius Louw, which the Lions attempted on a handful of times in the opening moments.
Inevitably, with one try scored, a second followed as the Sharks increased the tempo, and improved their continuity for Thaakir Abrahams to cross the whitewash untouched to open up a 14-0 lead in the 24th minute. Ten minutes later Pepsi Buthelezi finished off a high-tempo and clinical play to score the Durbanites third.
Perhaps the biggest woe of the Lions during this season has been their inability to protect the ball adequately at the breakdown. On several occasions on Saturday, the Joburgers found themselves rolling in the right areas, only for the Sharks to affect a turnover, or win a penalty, at critical moments.
Their discipline was no great shakes either as they conceded 14 penalties to nine and also received two sanctions to PJ Botha and Stean Pienaar in the first 40. They paid dearly for their indiscretions with Anthony Volminks scoring before half-time and Abrahams finishing off a brilliant breakout from behind their tryline to record his brace, and eventually a hat-trick of tries, early in the second half.
Their backline work was also not up to scratch, silly errors abounding in a desperate approach to stretch the Sharks defence. Where the Lions seemed disjointed at best, and struggled in their execution, a confident Sharks-outfit had no such concerns, taking every opportunity presented to them. They were excellent in broken play, their line-out and maul work, in the dark art of the ruck, and also finding space in a fractured Lions’ defensive line.
The introduction of Morne van den Berg in the second half, replacing Ross Cronje at scrumhalf, might have picked up the pace of the Lions which eventually saw Emmaneul Tshituka and Jaco Visagie score, but the hosts had simply too much to do and were too far behind on the scoreboard and in general play to make a comeback.
Lions (0) 14 – Tries: E Tshituka, Visagie; Conversions: Hendrikse (2); Yellow Cards: Botha (24), Pienaar (42)
Sharks (28) 56 – Tries: Louw, Abrahams (3), Buthelezi, Volmink (2), Nohamba; Conversions: Cronje (5), Chamberlain (3)
IOL Sport